Sehwag, Harbhajan axed from India's Champions Trophy probales list

New Delhi, Apr 6, 2013, (PTI) :

Senior cricketers Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh were omitted while Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parveez Rasool was today named in India's 30-member probables list for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England in June this year.

Apart from the struggling Sehwag and Harbhajan, paceman Zaheer Khan, batsman Cheteswar Pujara and spinner Pragyan Ojha were also left out from the list of probables announced by BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.

The left handed Gautam Gambhir, who had been dropped from the Test team, finds himself in the list which has a number of youngsters like Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Jalaj Saxena, Punjab pacer Siddharth Kaul, Maharashtra middle order batsman Kedar Jadhav and MP pacer Ishwar Yadav.

Both Sehwag and Harbhajan's axing did not come as a surprise since both have been out of form for quite a long time.

While Sehwag, who is also currently sitting injured on the Delhi Daredevils bench, was dropped from the squad for the third and fourth Test against Australia because of a prolonged form slump, Harbhajan managed to retain his Test place but failed to earn a spot in the playing eleven.

Gambhir, who was ignored for the entire Test series against Australia, kept himself in reckoning by making it to 30-men list which will be pruned down to 15 a month before the tournament.

Shikhar Dhawan's century on his debut Test in Mohali has put him in the reckoning to return to the ODI squad as apart from Gambhir, he and Murali Vijay are the other two openers in the list.

There are three wicket-keepers in the list with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha and Dinesh Karthik getting the preference.

Fit-again Umesh Yadav and troubled pacer Praveen Kumar, who was banned by the BCCI for a short period earlier this year period for misconduct during a Corporate Trophy match, have also been included among the probables.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra has also been included while left-arm spinner Ojha has been left out of the list as he is seen more as a Test bowler.

Among the notable domestic performers who have got a call for the camp are Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Rasool, who took seven Australian wickets for the Board President's XI, Indian Under-19 World Cup winning team captain Unmukt Chand.